2011 Bentley Continental Flying Star by Touring Superleggera

Shooting Star: A wagon for our wish list.

The Geneva auto show is famous for its slinky exotics, not its station wagons, but this year, one of its big stars (pardon the pun) will be both: the Bentley Continental Flying Star by Touring Superleggera. Built in Milan by storied Italian coachbuilder Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera for a “discerning enthusiast,” this particular four-seat wagon is based on the Bentley Continental GTC and thus features just two doors. That, of course, makes it a “shooting brake,” just like its predecessor, the strange but cool 1966 Touring Flying Star II prototype (pictured below), which was based on the Lamborghini 400GT. A power tailgate and folding rear seats allow easy access to its two-meter-long cargo area, so it looks like you’ll have to put that 4-by-8 sheet of plywood on the roof.

But the real surprise is that the Flying Star will not be just another one-off. According to the builders, the car is already CEE homologated, and production plans call for Touring Superleggera to build up to 20 of them for worldwide consumption, using either the standard Continental GTC or the GTC Speed as starting points (what, no Flying Star Supersports?). In any case, actual production makes the Flying Star at least remotely attainable, while the low, low build numbers ensure that the sight of one will be far less common than, well, a shooting star.